It's been a week since I attended my 14th Summercamp in a row. The first two years were the only ones I did not attend in some form. We live about an hour and fifteen minutes north of the festival site. To put it in perspective we can drive there without getting on an interstate. I was told attendance was above 22,000 by Saturday. Once again my friend Craig came along for the forth year in a row. Kyle joined us as well this year. We hit the tobacco shop and Subway on the way. I've never parked that far away. Going forward I will likely continue to attend but will not be arriving at noon like we did. It's just too much hanging around in a field with a bunch of kids. Admittedly there were times this year were I felt old and over the whole thing. We got there so early in order to see Umphrey's McGee. The day started with Illinois act Family Groove Company. At the merch stand I picked up the Trey Anastasio 2017 tour shirt.
This was my 157th time seeing Umphrey's McGee. My prime years of seeing this band were 04-07. The Sunday afternoon set is always relatively safe. It's tough to make it happen at 2 pm in the blazing heat. I felt they showed well for themselves though. This was a cohesive set that showcased songs that would appeal to veteran and new fans. August in particular had several impressive peaks. Walletsworth brings me back to the Anchor Drops era. The Joel Cummins-led ending is one of my favorite parts of any of their songs. That was my first time hearing Attachments. There was a lot of energy for a day set and exceeded my expectations.
I walked over to the Moonshine Stage and was impressed by Railroad Earth. It started to really heat up. I'll see them again in August when they play with moe. in Peoria. This was announced in the festival pamphlet. I left my folding chair over at the Sunshine Stage most of the day in front of the soundboard. The highlight of the Yonder Mountain String Band set were the covers of Linda Ronstadt and America. Allie Kral is doing a great job with that outfit. She is an artist that I strongly associate with this festival from her years with Cornmeal. This bluegrass part of the day took it out of me with the hot sun above. I ended up getting sun burnt. For dinner I had a pulled pork sandwich that wasn't bad for festival fare.
Trey played better on this occasion than he did in Michigan three weeks prior. Gotta Jibboo got the fans dancing. Sand was the highlight of the show with Trey digging in providing plenty of signature licks. Soul Rebel and Drifting are two tunes that I didn't catch at the Royal Oak show. Money, Love and Change was another notable highlight of the first set. Trey locked into a little phrase and kept returning to it. I thought about catching local act The Dawn on the camping stage but Trey returned early and started Night Speaks to a Woman. This was the same placement that I saw three weeks earlier. Ocelot isn't a tune that necessarily needed to make the transition from Phish. Valentine was given a little extra treatment. Plasma was played at a very slow pace and eventually transitioned into Liquid Time. This included a cover of recently departed Gregg Allman's Midnight Rider. The next five songs solidified this show as my favorite part of the day. Dark and Down reminds me of the lightning during the storm Trey played in at this venue a few years prior. Simple Twist Up Dave was a strong version. Goodbye Head was well played. Mr. Completely and First Tube capped off the set. The encore consisted of Clint Eastwood and Push on Til the Day. By this point I was walking to the back of the field heading towards moe. when Trey finished his set with the appropriate acappella number The Parting Glass.
As I walked up to the Moonshine Stage I recognized the opening notes of Tailspin. This is a good call with the current state of our nation. I was glad to hear them extend the end and eventually segue into Ricky Marten. Opium had a sit in by Allie Kral. This segued into Billy Goat which continued into 32 Things. The band projected some video footage on the stage and admittedly it was corny. Akimbo rounded out the set. I walked over and got a cup of coffee and listened to some of Story of the World, M.E.M.P.H.I.S. from The Disco Biscuits. I decided buying a funnel cake was a bigger priority.
I liked how the final set of moe. was a Chromatic Nightmare sandwich. Lazarus is always welcome. ATL sounds too much like St. Stephen. McBain went on a bit long and I was very tired by this point. I've always thought McBain/George and Skrunk sounded musically related. The band denies this but I still stand by the original assertion. Honestly I felt like moe.'s show a year prior on Sunday at Summercamp was a lot better. This wasn't a bad effort. I'm glad we went. The three of us finished out the Plane Crash encore and made the arduous walk from one end of the property to the other where they parked us. I drove us home with relative ease. Memorial Day was once again spent recovering. There was a moment at the festival where I got sad thinking about some of the faces no longer with us. I guess it's part of getting older. I'm glad we have a major festival so close and I'll try to continue to support the event.
